4 ms·

Not supporting interoperability is one thing. Going out of your way to prevent it is another.

philwelch 17y ago
Interoperability with the Pre or with gtkpod? It seems like Apple broke interoperability with the pre deliberately, with the side effect (one that Apple is apathetic towards) of breaking compatibility with gtkpod. Since it's the latter this blogger is complaining about, I'd file this under "not supporting interoperability".
tvon 17y ago
If they don't block it they will be forced into supporting it if enough users use it.
- adharmad 17y ago
  Not really. No one can force Apple to support something. It is like Microsoft being forced to support their applications on WINE.
  - philwelch 17y ago
    If a significant percentage of Microsoft Office purchases were run on WINE, Microsoft would be forced to support that scenario. However, that's not the case.
    - fauigerzigerk 17y ago
      So as a vendor what I should do is force my own customers not to force me to support their needs?
    - smakz 17y ago
      They would only be "forced" if Microsoft recognized revenue potential in WINE users, then it's a business decision.
  - tvon 17y ago
    If a significant number of users were using iTunes to sync 3rd party devices and a future update to iTunes inadvertently broke that syncing, who do you think the consumer would blame?
__david__ 17y ago
Well, take a look from Apple's perspective. They spent time and money developing a platform for their iPods. Why would they want to allow their free (for consumers) music platform to seamlessly work with a direct competitor's product? So Apple gets to support iTunes and polish it for years and then Palm gets to leech off their hard work and use it for free without repercussion? I think by disabling the Pre they're saying to Palm, "Hey, Palm, why don't you go spend your own millions of dollars and build your own damn app." When you look at it that way I can't really fault them. What I suspect will happen is that Apple and Palm will battle back and forth for a few revisions over a few months and then Palm will cave and throw some money at Apple (or something else they want) and we'll hear about some sort of partnership and suddenly hey, look, the Pre will be supported officially. Either that or Palm will give up and make their own music uploader.
- dtf 17y ago
  And that is why I never buy Apple. I continue to be amazed that a company which is responsible for such cutting edge technology and engineering excellence maintains such an old school attitude to business, its customers and its developers. Apple just doesn't get the concept of openness. It's stuck in the 80s.
  - ErrantX 17y ago
    > Apple just doesn't get the concept of openness. It's stuck in the 80s. Apple's attitude is incredibly modern; just not open. Do we HAVE to be 100% open all the time now, really? That makes no sense. Apple have killer products all the way from distribution to consumption; they've marketed them and sold them with effectiveness other companies only dream of! I certainly cant fault them for wanting to keep that success to themselves :)

Interoperability with the Pre or with gtkpod? It seems like Apple broke interoperability with the pre deliberately, with the side effect (one that Apple is apathetic towards) of breaking compatibility with gtkpod. Since it's the latter this blogger is complaining about, I'd file this under "not supporting interoperability".

tvon 17y ago

If they don't block it they will be forced into supporting it if enough users use it.

adharmad 17y ago
Not really. No one can force Apple to support something. It is like Microsoft being forced to support their applications on WINE.
- philwelch 17y ago
  If a significant percentage of Microsoft Office purchases were run on WINE, Microsoft would be forced to support that scenario. However, that's not the case.
  - fauigerzigerk 17y ago
    So as a vendor what I should do is force my own customers not to force me to support their needs?
  - smakz 17y ago
    They would only be "forced" if Microsoft recognized revenue potential in WINE users, then it's a business decision.
- tvon 17y ago
  If a significant number of users were using iTunes to sync 3rd party devices and a future update to iTunes inadvertently broke that syncing, who do you think the consumer would blame?

__david__ 17y ago

Well, take a look from Apple's perspective. They spent time and money developing a platform for their iPods. Why would they want to allow their free (for consumers) music platform to seamlessly work with a direct competitor's product? So Apple gets to support iTunes and polish it for years and then Palm gets to leech off their hard work and use it for free without repercussion? I think by disabling the Pre they're saying to Palm, "Hey, Palm, why don't you go spend your own millions of dollars and build your own damn app." When you look at it that way I can't really fault them. What I suspect will happen is that Apple and Palm will battle back and forth for a few revisions over a few months and then Palm will cave and throw some money at Apple (or something else they want) and we'll hear about some sort of partnership and suddenly hey, look, the Pre will be supported officially. Either that or Palm will give up and make their own music uploader.

dtf 17y ago
And that is why I never buy Apple. I continue to be amazed that a company which is responsible for such cutting edge technology and engineering excellence maintains such an old school attitude to business, its customers and its developers. Apple just doesn't get the concept of openness. It's stuck in the 80s.
- ErrantX 17y ago
  > Apple just doesn't get the concept of openness. It's stuck in the 80s. Apple's attitude is incredibly modern; just not open. Do we HAVE to be 100% open all the time now, really? That makes no sense. Apple have killer products all the way from distribution to consumption; they've marketed them and sold them with effectiveness other companies only dream of! I certainly cant fault them for wanting to keep that success to themselves :)